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Friday, 2 May 2008

So I'm back...

And heck, it's really good to be back. :) I've missed blogging and interacting with like-minded people on the internet, and most of all, the political activism.

It's interesting to note that not much has changed since I've been away.

Raja Petra Kamarudin is still being hauled to Bukit Aman for charges of sedition.

Newspapers are still spinning pro-BN news, though I must admit it is of reasonable proportions now, not as bizarrely slanted.

Bad behaviour is also evidently rampant, judging from our politicians' antics in the august house of parliament. I think BN is suffering from shock to see that the larger number of Opposition members are not going to take abuse lying down.

But all is good. I am happy to see that people are taking an active interest in politics. The progress of a nation depends very much on its people, and the desires of the people can only be voiced out by the representatives.

It is Syed Hamid Albar that the world sees on BBC Hardtalk. It is Zainuddin Maidin that the world sees on al-Jazeera. They do not know you and me.

We've got to change that. When I was in Europe, I made Malaysia sound like that best place on the planet! My European colleagues were under the impression all Malaysians speak at least 4 languages fluently, live in harmony with each other, are articulate, smart and friendly.

Many of them went back home and located Malaysia on the world map and came back to me excitedly the next day stating proudly that they now know where Malaysia is.

When I related this to my colleagues in Malaysia when I got back, they were dumbfounded. "You mean they've never heard of Malaysia?" they asked.

Sad but true.

If we have Syed Hamid and Zainuddin as the faces of Malaysian people, why would the rest of the world be bothered about us?

I'm bloody proud to be Malaysian. We have potential, we just never harness it the right way, thinking that subservient behaviour is our culture.

I have not mellowed.

I will not stop hurling brickbats and digging dirt until Malaysia is shaped into something remotely world-class.